Activity Eight - Reflective Practice and Changes in Practice

Reflective Practice and Changes in Practice


Āta tirohia te ngaro nui te ngaro roa, te ngaro paewhenua.
Analyse critically the gigantic wave, the long wave, the shoreward wave.


Week 32! Wow. Hard to believe we have arrived at the end. A real journey of both self and professional discovery.  I have been waiting to do the Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice since it first began a few years ago. Unfortunately, I was no longer teaching so couldn't afford to study. When I came back to the classroom this year the first thing I did, was sign up to Mind Lab!

I really loved the first 25 weeks when we went to class. The professional discussions and the fun we had made the weekly trip 'down the road' worthwhile. I did struggle a wee bit with writing assignments and above all, getting them in on time, until I was introduced to EXTENSIONS!!! These have saved my sanity on more than one occasion. However, I am absolutely making sure that I do not finish these 32 weeks with an extension...

The course has been an important one for me. When I first started, I looked forward to a newer, larger bank of resources for my classroom teaching, but the best thing I have got out of it is knowing myself, my strengths and my weaknesses and having the knowledge to critically reflect on my teaching and possibly to a larger degree, my leadership.


I think the two biggest changes I have made with regard to the Ministry of Education (nd) Practicing Teacher Criteria and E-learning are as follows:

Criteria 12 : Use critical inquiry and problem solving effectively in their professional practice

Coming back into a school after nearly 5 years has meant that things have changed. One of the biggest changes for me was the TAI. At the school I am at, we all have to complete one and I was really relying on my colleagues to fill in the gaps for me, So delving into a Teaching Inquiry and in particular, using a spiral of inquiry was great for me. It allowed me to really focus on an area that I have a passion for and get my head around the steps I needed to follow to complete it. My school TAI was absolutely data driven because of National Standards and the Mind Lab course allowed me to spread my wings and come to grips with using a TAI around an area of passion. This has really paid off in my class, my school and the school wide community. 

Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Professional development has always been, for me, a bit of a drag. I had only every been at schools where professional learning had been dictated to me, so being at a school where opportunities to develop your own path was exciting, but also freaked me out somewhat! I did really struggle with the non-contact time and at times thought that I wasn't going to make it, so actually, I am really very proud of myself that I have made it to the end. 

Further on down the road...

I am really excited by our Kahu Ako's professional development on Cultural Responsive Pedagogy. As it is a focus for our CoL, I am keen to put my name forward as an in-school leader. This is an area I have researched a lot in, thanks to the direction Mind Lab has taken me. It's an area I know I can help to make a wee bit of a difference in and an area I know I can confidently lead our school in. Thanks Mindlab. It's been a real road to discovery!







References:

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/ 

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